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Education in the United States 4Criticism A college economics professor has blamed
"credential inflation" for the admission of so many unqualified
students into college. He reports that the number of new jobs requiring college
degrees is less than the number of college graduates.[5] The same professor
reports that the more money that a state spends on higher education, the slower
the economy grows, the opposite of long held notions.[5] Contemporary education issues (See also: Education
reform) Major educational issues in the United States center
on curriculum, funding, and control. Of critical importance, because of its
enormous implications on education and funding, is the No Child Left Behind
Act.[45] Tracking (See also: Tracking (education)) Tracking is the practice of dividing students at the
primary or secondary school level into separate classes, depending if the
student is high, average, or low achievers. It also offers different curriculum
paths for students headed for college and for those who are bound directly for
the workplace or technical schools.[citation needed] Curriculum issues President
George W. Bush signing the No Child Left Behind Act Curricula in the United States vary widely from
district to district. Not only do schools offer a range of topics and quality,
but private schools may include religious classes as mandatory for attendance.
This raises the question of government funding vouchers in states with
anti-Catholic Blaine Amendments in their constitution. This has produced camps
of argument over the standardization of curricula and to what degree. These
same groups often are advocates of standardized testing, which is mandated by
the No Child Left Behind Act. There is debate over which subjects should receive the
most focus, with astronomy and geography among those cited as not being taught
enough in schools.[75] English in the classroom A large issue facing curricula today is the use of the
English language in teaching. English is spoken by over 95% of the nation, and
there is a strong national tradition of upholding English as the de facto
official language[citation needed]. Some 9.7 million children aged 5 to 17
primarily speak a language other than English at home. Of those, about 1.3
million children do not speak English well or at all.[76] Attainment Forty-four percent of college faculty believe that
incoming students aren't ready for writing at the college level. Ninety percent
of high school teachers believe exiting students are
well-prepared.[77][78][79][80] Drop out rates are a concern in American four year
colleges. In New York, 54 percent of students entering four-year colleges in
1997 had a degree six years later — and even fewer Hispanics and blacks
did.[81] 33 percent of the freshmen who enter the University of Massachusetts
Boston graduate within six years. Less than 41 percent graduate from the
University of Montana, and 44 percent from the University of New Mexico.[82] Since the 1980s the number of educated Americans has
continued to grow, but at a slower rate. Some have attributed this to an
increase in the foreign born portion of the workforce. However, the decreasing
growth of the educational workforce has instead been primarily due to slowing
down in educational attainment of people schooled in the United States.[83] Evolution versus creationism In 1999 the School Board of the state of Kansas caused
controversy when it decided to eliminate teaching of evolution in its state
assessment tests.[84] Scientists from around the country demurred.[85] Many
religious and family values groups, on the other hand, claimed that evolution
is simply a theory in the colloquial sense,[86] and as such creationist ideas
should therefore be taught alongside it as an alternative viewpoint.[87] A
majority supported teaching intelligent design and/or creationism in public
schools.[88] Violence and drug use Violence is a problem in high schools, depending on
the size and level of the school. Between 1996 and September 2003, at least 46
students and teachers were killed in 27 incidents involving the use of
firearms. Information from the National Center for Education Statistics shows
that, in 2001, students between the ages of 12 and 18 were the victims of 2
million crimes in US schools. 62% of the crimes were thefts. Between July 1999
and June 2000, 24 murders and 8 suicides took place in American schools. Also in 2001, 47% of American high school students
drank alcohol at least once; 5% drank right on school territory. 24% of high
school students smoked marijuana, 5% smoking right at school. 29% of students
who smoke marijuana obtain the drug at school.[89] Sex education Today, sex education ("sex ed") in the
United States is highly controversial. Many schools attempt to avoid the study
as much as possible, confining it to a unit in health or physical education
classes. There are few specifically sex education classes in existence. Also,
because former President George W. Bush called for abstinence-only sex
education and had the power to withhold funding,[90] many schools backed away
from instructing students in the use of birth control or
contraceptives.[citation needed] However, according to a 2004 survey, a majority of the
1001 parent groups polled wants complete sex education in the schools. The
American people are heavily divided over the issue. Over 80% of polled parents
agreed with the statement "Sex education in school makes it easier for me
to talk to my child about sexual issues," while under 17% agreed with the
statement that their children were being exposed to "subjects I don't
think my child should be discussing." 10 percent believed that their
children's sexual education class forced them to discuss sexual issues
"too early." On the other hand, 49 percent of the respondents (the
largest group) were "somewhat confident" that the values taught in
their children's sex ed classes were similar to those taught at home, and 23
percent were less confident still. (The margin of error was plus or minus 4.7
percent.)[91] Textbook review and adoption In many localities in the United States, the
curriculum taught in public schools is influenced by the textbooks used by the
teachers. In some states, textbooks are selected for all students at the state
level. Since states such as California and Texas represent a considerable
market for textbook publishers, these states can exert influence over the
content of the books.[92] In 2010, the Texas Board of Education adopted new
Social Studies standards that could potentially impact the content of textbooks
purchased in other parts of the country. The deliberations that resulted in the
new standards were partisan in nature and are said to reflect a conservative
leaning in the view of United States history.[93] As of January 2009, the four largest college textbook
publishers in the United States were: Pearson Education (including such imprints as Addison-Wesley and
Prentice Hall) Cengage Learning (formerly Thomson Learning) McGraw-Hill Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Other US textbook publishers include: John Wiley & Sons Jones and Bartlett Publishers F. A. Davis Company W. W. Norton & Company SAGE Publications Flat World Knowledge Bookboon.com Funding Funding for K–12 schools According to a 2005 report from the OECD, the United
States is tied for first place with Switzerland when it comes to annual
spending per student on its public schools, with each of those two countries
spending more than $11,000 (in U.S. currency).[94] However, the United States
is ranked 37th in the world in education spending as a percentage of gross
domestic product. All but seven of the leading countries are in the third
world; ranked high because of a low GDP.[95] U.S. public schools lag behind the
schools of other developed countries in the areas of reading, math, and
science.[96] According to a 2007 article in The Washington Post,
the Washington D.C. public school district spends $12,979 per student per year.
This is the third highest level of funding per student out of the 100 biggest
school districts in the U.S. Despite this high level of funding, the school
district has produced outcomes that are lower than the national average. In
reading and math, the district's students score the lowest among 11 major
school districts – even when poor children are compared with other poor
children. 33% of poor fourth graders in the U.S. lack basic skills in math, but
in Washington D.C., it's 62%.[97] In 2004, the U.S. Congress set up a voucher
program for low income minority students in Washington D.C. to attend private
schools. The vouchers were $7,500 per student per year. The parents said their
children were receiving a much better education from the private schools. In
2007, Washington D.C. non-voting delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton said she wanted
the voucher program to be eliminated, and that the public schools needed more
money.[98] Secretary of Education Arne Duncan supports retaining vouchers for
the district only, as do some DC parent groups.[99][100] According to a 2006 study by the Goldwater Institute,
Arizona's public schools spend 50% more per student than Arizona's private
schools. The study also says that while teachers constitute 72% of the
employees at private schools, they make up less than half of the staff at
public schools. According to the study, if Arizona's public schools wanted to
be like private schools, they would have to hire approximately 25,000 more
teachers, and eliminate 21,210 administration employees.[101] During the 2006–2007 school year, a private school in
Chicago founded by Marva Collins to teach low income minority students charged
$5,500 for tuition, and parents said that the school did a much better job than
the Chicago public school system.[102] However, Collins' school was forced to
close in 2008 due to lack of sufficient enrollment and funding.[103] Meanwhile,
during the 2007–2008 year, Chicago public school officials claimed that their
budget of $11,300 per student was not enough.[104] In 1985 in Kansas City, Missouri, a judge ordered the
school district to raise taxes and spend more money on public education.
Spending was increased so much, that the school district was spending more
money per student than any of the country's other 280 largest school districts with
a charge to "dream" of the possibilities and to make them happen.
Although this very high level of spending continued for more than a decade,
there was no improvement in the school district's academic
performance.[105][106] Public school defenders answer that both of these
examples are misleading, as the task of educating students is easier in private
schools, which can expel or refuse to accept students who lag behind their
peers in academic achievement or behavior, while public schools have no such recourse
and must continue to attempt to educate these students. For this reason,
comparisons of the cost of education in public schools to that of private
schools is misleading; private school education can be accomplished with less
funding because in most cases they educate those students who are easiest to
teach.[107] But not in all cases. For example, Marva Collins
created her low cost private school specifically for the purpose of teaching
low income African American children whom the public school system had labeled
as being "learning disabled".[108] One article about Marva Collins'
school stated, "Working with students having the worst of backgrounds,
those who were working far below grade level, and even those who had been
labeled as 'unteachable,' Marva was able to overcome the obstacles. News of
third grade students reading at ninth grade level, four-year-olds learning to
read in a few months, outstanding test scores, disappearance of behavioral
problems, second-graders studying Shakespeare, and other incredible reports,
astounded the public." [109] According to a 1999 article by William J. Bennett,
former U.S. Secretary of Education, increased levels of spending on public
education have not made the schools better. Among many other things, the article
cites the following statistics:[110] Between 1960 and 1995, U.S. public school spending per
student, adjusted for inflation, increased by 212%. In 1994, less than half of all U.S. public school
employees were teachers. Out of 21 industrialized countries, U.S. 12th graders
ranked 19th in math, 16th in science, and last in advanced physics. A 2008 report[111] by The Heritage Foundation provides
the following chart based on data[112][113] from the US Department of Education
indicating no real improvement in reading scores, while per student expenditure
more than doubles from $4,060 in 1970 to $9,266 in 2005 ($20,436.03 adjusted
for inflation since 1970 [114]): (click to see image) Other commentators have suggested that the public
school system has exhibited signs of success. SAT scores have risen
consistently over the past decades, despite the fact that the pool of students
taking the test has increased from an academic elite to a much more
representative sampling of the population. Commentators have suggested that
this increase in scores, coming as it does at a time when more students have
started to take the test and the public schooling system has faced
ever-increasing challenge, suggests that the US educational system is much more
effective than is commonly believed, and that the negative cast common in
public perception is due to negative propaganda disseminated by elements with a
personal interest in discrediting or weakening public education.[115] Funding for schools in the United States is complex.
One current controversy stems much from the No Child Left Behind Act. The Act
gives the Department of Education the right to withhold funding if it believes
a school, district, or even a state is not complying and is making no effort to
comply. However, federal funding accounts for little of the overall funding
schools receive. The vast majority comes from the state government and in some
cases from local property taxes. Various groups, many of whom are teachers,
constantly push for more funding. They point to many different situations, such
as the fact that in many schools funding for classroom supplies is so
inadequate that teachers, especially those at the elementary level, must
supplement their supplies with purchases of their own.[116] Property taxes as a primary source of funding for
public education have become highly controversial, for a number of reasons.
First, if a state's population and land values escalate rapidly, many longtime
residents may find themselves paying property taxes much higher than anticipated.
In response to this phenomenon, California's citizens passed Proposition 13 in
1978, which severely restricted the ability of the Legislature to expand the
state's educational system to keep up with growth. Some states, such as
Michigan, have investigated or implemented alternate schemes for funding
education that may sidestep the problems of funding based mainly on property
taxes by providing funding based on sales or income tax. These schemes also
have failings, negatively impacting funding in a slow economy.[117] One of the biggest debates in funding public schools
is funding by local taxes or state taxes. The federal government supplies
around 8.5% of the public school system funds, according to a 2005 report by
the National Center for Education Statistics. The remaining split between state
and local governments averages 48.7 percent from states and 42.8 percent from
local sources. However, the division varies widely. In Hawaii local funds make
up 1.7 percent, while state sources account for nearly 90.1 percent.[118] The most expensive school in the United States was
constructed by the Los Angeles Unified School District in 2010. It cost $578
million; served 4,200 K–12 students.[119] Funding for college At the college and university level student loan
funding is split in half; half is managed by the Department of Education
directly, called the Federal Direct Student Loan Program (FDSLP). The other
half is managed by commercial entities such as banks, credit unions, and
financial services firms such as Sallie Mae, under the Federal Family Education
Loan Program (FFELP). Some schools accept only FFELP loans; others accept only
FDSLP. Still others accept both, and a few schools will not accept either, in
which case students must seek out private alternatives for student loans.[120] Charter schools The charter-school movement was born in 1990. Charter
schools have spread rapidly in the United States, members, parents, teachers,
and students" to allow for the "expression of diverse teaching
philosophies and cultural and social life styles." [121] Affirmative action (See also: Affirmative action in
the United States) In 2003 a Supreme Court decision concerning
affirmative action in universities allowed educational institutions to consider
race as a factor in admitting students, but ruled that strict point systems are
unconstitutional.[122] Opponents of racial affirmative action argue that the
program actually benefits middle- and upper-class people of color at the
expense of lower class European Americans and Asian Americans.[123] Prominent
African American academics Henry Louis Gates and Lani Guinier, while favoring
affirmative action, have argued that in practice, it has led to recent black
immigrants and their children being greatly overrepresented at elite
institutions, at the expense of the historic African American community made up
of descendants of slaves.[124] In 2006, Jian Li, a Chinese undergraduate at
Yale University, filed a civil rights complaint with the Office for Civil
Rights against Princeton University, claiming that his race played a role in
their decision to reject his application for admission.[125] Control There is some debate about where control for education
actually lies. Education is not mentioned in the constitution of the United
States. In the current situation, the state and national governments have a
power-sharing arrangement, with the states exercising most of the control. Like
other arrangements between the two, the federal government uses the threat of
decreased funding to enforce laws pertaining to education.[49] Furthermore,
within each state there are different types of control. Some states have a
statewide school system, while others delegate power to county, city or
township-level school boards. However, under the Bush administration,
initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind Act have attempted to assert more
central control in a heavily decentralized system. Many cities have their own school boards everywhere in
the United States. With the exception of cities, outside the northeast U.S.
school boards are generally constituted at the county level. The U.S. federal government exercises its control
through the U.S. Department of Education. Educational accreditation decisions
are made by voluntary regional associations. Schools in the 50 states, the
District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana
Islands, teach in English, while schools in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico
teach in Spanish. Nonprofit private schools are widespread, are largely
independent of the government, and include secular as well as parochial
schools. International comparison (See also: Cram school) U.S. students' average scores in international
comparisons have often been below the average of developed countries. In the
OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment 2003, 15 year olds ranked
24th of 38 in mathematics, 19th of 38 in science, 12th of 38 in reading, and
26th of 38 in problem solving.[126] In the 2006 assessment, the U.S. ranked
35th out of 57 in mathematics and 29th out of 57 in science. Reading scores
could not be reported due to printing errors in the instructions of the U.S.
test booklets. U.S. scores were behind those of most other developed
nations.[127] While US teens' performance was mediocre in the Programme for
International Student Assessment tests, which emphasizes problem solving, US
fourth and eighth graders tested above average on the Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study tests, which emphasizes traditional learning.[128] Educational attainment This graph
shows the educational attainment since 1947.[129] The rise of the high school movement in the beginning
of the 20th century was unique in the United States, such that, high schools
were implemented with property-tax funded tuition, openness, non-exclusivity,
and were decentralized. The academic curriculum was designed to provide the
students with a terminal degree. The students obtained general knowledge (such
as mathematics, chemistry, English composition, etc.) applicable to the high
geographic and social mobility in the United States. The provision of the high
schools accelerated with the rise of the second industrial revolution. The
increase in white collar and skilled blue-collar work in manufacturing was
reflected in the demand for high school education. In the 21st century, the educational attainment of the
US population is similar to that of many other industrialized countries with
the vast majority of the population having completed secondary education and a
rising number of college graduates that outnumber high school dropouts. As a
whole, the population of the United States is becoming increasingly more
educated.[citation needed] Post-secondary education is valued very highly by
American society and is one of the main determinants of class and
status.[citation needed] As with income, however, there are significant
discrepancies in terms of race, age, household configuration and
geography.[129] Overall the households and demographics featuring the highest
educational attainment in the United States are also among those with the
highest household income and wealth. Thus, while the population of the US is
becoming increasingly educated on all levels, a direct link between income and
educational attainment remains.[129] In 2007, Americans stood second only to Canada in the
percentage of 35 to 64 year olds holding at least two-year degrees. Among 25 to
34 year olds, the country stands tenth. The nation stands 15 out of 29 rated
nations for college completion rates, slightly above Mexico and Turkey.[58] The U.S. Department of Education’s 2003 statistics
suggest that 14% of the population – or 32 million adults – have very low
literacy skills.[130] A five-year, $14 million study of U.S. adult literacy
involving lengthy interviews of U.S. adults, the most comprehensive study of
literacy ever commissioned by the U.S. government,[131] was released in
September 1993. It involved lengthy interviews of over 26,700 adults
statistically balanced for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and
location (urban, suburban, or rural) in 12 states across the U.S. and was
designed to represent the U.S. population as a whole. This government study
showed that 21% to 23% of adult Americans were not "able to locate
information in text", could not "make low-level inferences using
printed materials", and were unable to "integrate easily identifiable
pieces of information."[131] According to a 2003 study by the US government, around
23% of Americans in California lack basic prose literacy skills.[132] Health and safety Many schools have nurses either full-time or part time
to administer to students and to ensure that medication is taken as directed by
their physician.[133] For some high school grades and many elementary
schools as well, a police officer, titled a "resource officer", or
SRO (Security Resource Officer), is on site to screen students for firearms and
to help avoid disruptions.[134][135][citation needed] |
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